[Owntracks](https://owntracks.org/) is a self-hosted system for keeping track of where you are or where things are. It comes with an IOS and Android client, and has an MQTT API to let you insert geolocation in from your favorite program. JP Mens created the idea and developed the back end server;... Continue reading

Day one on a new DMR radio. First impressions: when the sound quality is good, it's just fine. No noise, but you do get dropouts. I'm sure that's the quality of the DMR voice encoder/decoder and not specific to my radio. I have a Baofeng / Radioddity RD-5R, purchased on... Continue reading

If you are looking to understand the entire sequence of what it takes to identify that aircraft that's passing overhead, here's a list of the components I'm using at home to power a web site that I can view from anywhere to identify aircraft - or blimps - overhead. This... Continue reading

I rode and drove SAG for the AABTS "One Helluva Ride" on Saturday, July 14, 2018 with Saul KE8DDR. We clocked 111 miles door to door, which included two stops at the Gregory rest stop and a scenic ride through Hell, MI on a road that was paved with good... Continue reading

The combination of [KiwiSDR](http://kiwisdr.com/) and [sdr.hu](http://sdr.hu) plus Wikipedia's baseball radio network maps plus AM sports radio makes for excellent baseball DX. It's a little work to map out what's where, but generally you are looking for a flagship station in the baseball broadcast network on the AM band, or a... Continue reading

radiosocial.org is a Mastodon instance for radio amateurs. It's a fairly new system in 2018, but already the local timeline is well dedicated to radio interests. It's run by Andy M1LOL (@ak). Mastodon is a worldwide federated network of systems which run a social network. The user interface is reminiscent... Continue reading

Montoring notes, rather than operating notes, as I was just listening to this net. On the first Saturday of each month, the Washtenaw County sirens are tested at noon, March through October. A net on the N8DUY 145.15 repeater assists in this testing. Radio operators are encouraged to register in... Continue reading

As previously noted the W8UM repeater on 145.23 is off the air because of construction on the University of Michigan central campus at the Weiser Building (aka Dennison Building, aka Physics and Astronomy building). The complete gut and rehab of the space meant that all systems in that building are... Continue reading

From: Palmisano, John Sent: Saturday, August 6, 2016 6:39 PM Subject: W8UM Repeaters - URGENT To: w8um-members W8UM Members: all UM repeaters, 2m, 70 cm, & 900 MHz are out of service for the next several months. Building renovations necessitated this shutdown. No alternative plans for the Sunday Night Net... Continue reading

A new radio came in the mail today, a Baofeng UV-5RA. This is a cosmetically different but basically identical model to the UV-5R that I already have, which will be a hand-me-down to KE8DDR who I promised a radio once he got his license. Every new radio gets programmed with... Continue reading

APRS is a protocol for device location over RF and TCP/IP. I'm using [APRS for Windows Phone 1.1.0.0](http://www.radio.cc/page/aprs4windowsphone) by Stefan HB9TWS. One operating note. If you are on the U of Michigan campus as a guest, you can connect to the Internet over the MGuest network. While on this network,... Continue reading

I navigated the FCC dance successfully and now have call sign W8EMV, replacing the previous call sign KD8OQG. There's no charge for a "vanity" license any more, just a matter of filling out the simple online forms and waiting 2 business weeks. I've had the emv login for many years,... Continue reading